“The sergeant is the Army.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

As Tom Peters recounts in The Excellence Dividend, his early years in the Navy taught him how important “first-line chiefs” are to an organization. For Peters, “chiefs” is Navy-speak for Chief Petty Officers, the naval equivalent of sergeant in the Army.

“First-line chiefs are key #1 to organizational effectiveness and we invariably (way) underplay their collective importance,” writes Peters. “Not getting this is a strategic mistake of the first order.”

Frontline bosses are the main embodiment of corporate culture. They are the champions for excellence and enablers of sustained employee development.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Mike Paton, Visionary at EOS Worldwide, LLC. We hope you enjoy Paton’s wisdom and perspective.

During a recent Annual Planning season, one of my clients was moved to tears while reflecting on the past year. He was recounting a “personal great,” and filled with pride for his daughter while sharing a few of her significant accomplishments. He struggled to finish the story, and ultimately needed to take a short break to compose himself. Throughout this touching, heartfelt moment, he kept apologizing to his team for being so emotional.

Truth be told, I regularly witness crying, yelling, and various other forms of passion in a session room. Running an entrepreneurial company can be hard. Most of my clients spend far more hours at work than they do at home with their families. They pour themselves into their businesses as if their lives depend on its success or failure. They worry deeply about the well-being of every employee and most customers. And they often have to make tough decisions that adversely affect someone that matters to them very much.

Everyone has probably heard the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) made famous by the U.S. Navy in the 1960's. It was used to gently remind people to work towards simplicity in design and process rather than falling into the trap of over complication. Even though this acronym has permeated into several facets of life and business, it is a skill set that many forget and few are able to master.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Gravitas Impact Premium Coaches. We hope you enjoy their wisdom and perspective.

Have you ever heard of the “Impossible Task”?

It’s a term you likely won’t find in any peer-reviewed journal, but you may be familiar with it. It actually grew out of a viral Twitter thread from back in August and is used to describe a symptom of depression where seemingly simple tasks — such as folding that pile of laundry, paying a bill, or even responding to an important email — suddenly become impossible to complete for no reason at all. You have all the tools. You know what needs to be done. You may even be fully aware of the simplicity of it, but you just. Can’t. Do it.

How often do businesses find themselves with a similar problem when it comes to execution? You have your strategy, your team, and your map. You know what needs to be done, but you just can’t seem to get out of the strategy phase. As it turns out, the answer is “a lot.”

“Execution will be one of the key differentiators going forward. Not just execution, but the speed at which new ideas and solutions can be deployed,” said my friend Larry Linne on a recent phone call. “It will be the thing that separates the winners from the losers.”

Larry and I were talking about the state of our industry and some friends in the business who decided to sell their firms. Larry is in a unique position to offer perspective on execution as he runs an advisory firm focused on helping insurance agencies maximize their potential. Larry and his team have expertise in operations, finance, and product development. They’re innovative and strategic, and also focused on training and implementation.

The thing Larry has noticed over the years is that when strategies fail, it’s usually due to poor execution. Many companies suffer a huge gap between great ideas and actual results.

Tom Peters, author of The Excellence Dividend, devotes the entire opening chapter to execution, calling it “the all-important last 95%.” Think about that for a minute. How many presentations have you been a part that pitched a new idea or strategy and barely touched on how it would be implemented? Guilty as charged. And yet Tom says all that ideation is only the first 5%! Leaders must prioritize the “how” of execution going forward.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Jim Canfield, President of CEO Tools. We hope you enjoy Jim’s wisdom and perspective.

At some point, all CEOs or managers have to ask themselves, “How do we get to the next level?”

The answer could cover a daylong workshop.

Luckily, seven simple steps or business tools, based on the book CEO Tools, provide a jump-start to finding those answers. Follow these and get what you need now to move your business forward.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Brad Galin, Director of Human Resources for Portage Public Schools. We hope you enjoy Brad’s wisdom and perspective.

In my role as the HR Director for a public school district, I receive emails on a weekly basis with articles that detail how teachers nationwide are burning out at a higher rate than ever. The articles frequently cite the same reasons and propose solutions that often require things beyond the control of the districts.

The thing is, this trend is not just limited to teachers. A quick search for almost any profession paired with the word “burnout” in Google will yield countless articles about the historically unprecedented burnout problem in these fields. In addition to those I receive about education, common ones we see include physicians, truck drivers, and police officers.

Burnout has become less of an outlier and more of a feature in the modern American workplace.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Barbara Khozam, internationally recognized customer service speaker and trainer. We hope you enjoy Barbara’s wisdom and perspective.

A touchpoint is every single opportunity that customers and clients have of connecting with your business. And every touchpoint has the opportunity to turn great service into a BAD experience.

Real World Story: At a restaurant, touchpoints can include the hostess, cashier, waiters, busboys, and even the chef. At an insurance company, touchpoints can include the company website, call service agents, and even claims adjusters. At a hotel, touchpoints can include reservation emails, parking and garage attendants, bellboys, reception agents, and even the facilities manager.

So, do you know ALL your customer touchpoints? More importantly, do you know how well or badly each touchpoint meets your standards of delivering exceptional service?

It’s said that most adults will spend one third of their life at work. That’s roughly 90,000 hours! Putting it in these terms provides a different context in which to view the employer-employee relationship.

Author Tom Peters says leaders need to accept responsibility for the role they play in employees’ lives. “Every leader has a moral obligation [today] to develop people so that when they leave, they are better prepared for tomorrow than when they arrived,” writes Peters.

That’s heavy. I care about our people a lot. I think about the 150+ families relying on our leaders to make good decisions with the best interest of our team at heart. Yet “moral obligation” is an even larger burden. And you know what? He’s right. We owe that to our team.

As we wrap up another year of blogging, I'd like to share some thanks. To our guest bloggers - thank you for sharing your insight and wisdom with us throughout the year! And to all of our readers - thank you for reading and sharing these blogs with others!

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